October

We had a great October.  It went by quickly but was packed with fun days.

Steve took Sophia to visit Aiden at college in Ithaca.  I spent the weekend at home catching up on some scrapbooking.  I finished 2012.  I am only two years behind now.  I need a few more of these weekends!  Steve and Sophia really enjoyed seeing Aiden and I know he loved having them there.

Sophia and I had a great day picking pumpkins and apples.  We went on a hayride and through a straw maze.  It was a great day.  We ended the day in Olive Garden enjoying dinner with the gift card my mother bought me for my birthday in May.  I hadn't even realized until later that night that it was exactly two months since my mother passed away.  Enjoying the dinner and remembering all the times we went to Olive Garden with her was nice.

When we started talking about a family trip to Disney last year (or was it two years ago?) Sophia said she would rather go to a dude ranch.  We checked out lots of places but many of them were far away. Steve found a place in Cooks Forest, PA.  There was a dude ranch which offered ride packages.  When he went to check them out they recommended we stay at a near by cabin because their accommodations were pretty bare bones.  Steve found a great place with heated cabins.  The cabins had a fireplace and were very nice.  The first day we rode for three hours.  The trail was full of small hills which the horses ran up and often slid or ran down.  The trail was muddy so the horses tried to stay along the side which meant if you didn't control your horse you would be riding through trees and brush.  After that three hour ride we were sore!  Well, Steve and I were, Sophia had a blast.  The second day we took a five hour river ride.  The terrain was a LITTLE bit better but crossing the river was scary.  The rocky bottom caused the horses to slip a little.  They were sure footed and handled it well but that didn't put me at ease.  We stopped for lunch on this ride.  At the every end of the ride my horse spooked.  Everyone else took a turn to the right to go up the hill to where the trailer was going to pick us up.  Mine did not want to go (okay likely because I was not forceful enough when trying to steer it.)  Another group of horses came up behind us and spooked my horse.  She took off, stopped, then took off again but this time turning in a quick circle before running.  I screamed for Steve and luckily the guide heard me and came to my rescue.  It was scary.  I could not bring myself to go on another three hour ride the next day.  Steve was sore but not as much as I was.  I just could not relax on the horse.  My whole body ached because I was so stiff.  I held onto the horn of the saddle with one and and the lip of the saddle with the other.  Meanwhile,  Sophia is riding totally relaxed, holding the rein in one hand (like you should) and munching on an apple held in the other hand.  She is a natural.  She stayed up with the guide and chatted with him the whole way.  The third day we took a two hour ride and asked for more leveled trails.  This ride was much easier.  Steve and I enjoyed it but Sophia thought it was a little boring.  As sore as we (Steve and I) were we all had a blast.

The cabin was so deep in the mountains we could not get cell service anywhere near the place.  They actually had pay phones along the road.  It has been a long time since we have seen them in our daily life.  Sophia never saw one before.

Sophia was in her second schooling show of the fall series.  She did amazingly well.  She rode Rex and took first place in all the mini short stirrup events placing her as grand champion of the show.  She really looked amazing.  She also smiled which is something she doesn't usually do when riding.  She usually looks so serious.

The animals are all getting along.  Shadow enjoys Mr. Twinkletoes in small doses.  He does not like when Mr. Twinkletoes bites him.  The dogs are getting used to him too.  Kaegogi did well with him from day one.  Boba just barked and chased him.  Now, as long as Mr. Twinkletoes does not run fast, Boba doesn't bark.  We still don't trust the dogs and cats being together when we are not home, so the dogs get crated and everyone is safe.

And then there was Halloween.  Sophia enjoyed spending time with her cousin Emma who just moved back from Seattle.  They carved pumpkins together.  She also worked on a pumpkin with Steve at home.

She wore four different costumes this year to four different events.  We went to a Halloween party at the barn and she wore the horse costume from two years ago.

At school Sophia and her best friend, Taylor, decided they wanted to be Thing One and Thing Two.  Her mother and I made the costumes.  They looked great.

She wore her Jerry costume while Steve wore his Tom costume when we went out Trick or Treating.

 Then she attended a lego event on November 1st and wore last year's Princess Celestia costume.  She looked great in every one.

October was a great month.  November is sure to follow suit with Sophia's birthday, her party, Thanksgiving, a visit from Aiden and the last horse show of the season.